For Better or Worse
by MixBerkaan
Summary: After being rescued from Tenrou Island, the members of Fairy Tail must try to reclaim their lives in a world that has passed on and left them behind. Emotions, struggle, and conflict stand in their way, but they are members of Fairy Tail, and they have no choice but to prevail. Rated M for language and possible sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1

_Failte! This is my first time diving into the realm of fanfiction (in the writer's sense, at least) and I hope you will enjoy what you read. I am a big supporter of constructive criticism and free speech, so if you choose to review, know that you need not censor yourself in any way. I'm still looking for a beta, so I apologize if these first few chapters are a bit rough around the edges. Hopefully, once I find a beta, I'll be able to come in and edit them before the completed story is published. This is story is going to be more than a one shot, as I, personally, like to read fully developed plots and characters. All components of Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima and I am very grateful to him for creating such wonderful characters for us all to enjoy. This isn't intended to be a smut or to focus on romance, though there will be traditional pairings between the characters in the story. However, the base of the story is intended to focus upon the general senses of loyalty and friendship that stand out within this series. Once again, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

The first thing she felt was pain; the last thing she recalled was light. She could have sworn her eyes were open, but all she could see was darkness. "Hello?" she called, her voice seeming small even for her. "Natsu? Erza? Gray? Anyone?" but, no matter how much she called out, there was nothing. It wasn't the darkness that began to frighten her, but the sheer nothingness. 'This must be what it is to be trapped in limbo,' Lucy thought. Curling into a ball, she tried to find comfort within herself, but every glimpse of the warm emotion flit away as she reached for it. A choked sob was torn from her throat before the screams began, and the panic set in. She tried to run, to hide, to find something, but she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet, the wind upon her arms, the moisture in the air. Every sense seemed to have been completely shut off. Finally collapsing from her terror, Lucy Heartfilia huddled in upon herself once more, her eyes shut (for all she knew) to the outside world. She could feel the burning of tears in the corners of her eyes, but she could not feel the wetness upon her cheeks.

Just as she was about to let her fear devour her, she remembered that smile. The one that always gave her confidence, and always reminded her of why she fought. A wavering smile crept onto her face as even the faint memory caused a glimmer of warmth to roll through her. Natsu was her best friend, after all. He was the one who accepted her without question, who brought her this far, and who never doubted her. Her heart began to flutter in her chest and she felt the warmth from his memory rise to her cheeks. Shocked, as these were some of the first sensations she had felt this entire time, she quickly straightened from her position, and tried to look around, almost expecting to see Natsu and Happy come out of the darkness, their characteristic good cheer chasing the despair away; but there was nothing. Biting her lip, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, clutching to her memories as though they were lifelines.

With her faint smile growing stronger, she began to recall conversations, fights, scenes, memories upon memories began to pile in, one on top of the other. Gradually, Levy-chan began to appear in them, and then Erza, Gray, Mira, Juvia, Cana, and everyone else from the guild, and then she heard his voice, his voice just before they defeated Master Hades.

"I've got my friends beside me. And once you know your weakness, you can become stronger, as well as kinder". Natsu's voice echoed in her mind, calming her fear and giving her strength as he had done so many times before. Gritting her teeth, she straightened her posture and clenched her fists, despite not being able to tell up from down. Without a thought to where she was going, she began to move one foot in front of the other, knowing that she would never see her friends again, never be able to protect them again, if she didn't keep pressing forward. As though that were the revelation she needed, a sudden light encompassed her, causing her eyes to water and press her forearm over them. From far away, she heard familiar voices call for her. Clenching her jaw, Lucy picked up the pace and began to run, not allowing the growing pain in her muscles to slow her.

With a gasp, she blinked her eyes and looked at the blurred treetops above her, confusion entering her gaze. "Wha-what happened?" she murmured, before turning her head "Natsu?" she called out faintly, her vision slowly clearing of darkness. With a faint flush, she saw Jet instead, or, at least, someone who looked like Jet. With a groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position, her muscles screaming in protest at every movement. "Jet? Is that you? Why are you here? Where is everyone? What happened to you? What happened to us? What happened in general?!" Lucy, despite the little voice in her head telling her to calm down and let him answer the questions, couldn't seem to stop them from rolling over her tongue, one by one.

Walking over, Jet grinned and helped her to her feet, steadying her when she began to waver. "Don't worry about talking right now" he said, "We're all gathering just a bit over here, and then we'll figure things out from there." With that, he led her into the forest about 300 meters until they came upon a small clearing where several of them were already waiting, included the one she was secretly searching for the most.

"Natsu! Erza!" she called out, staggering forward. With a swivel of their heads, they turned towards her voice so fast that she was surprised they didn't give themselves whiplash, grins breaking out over their faces.

"Lucy!" tears streaming from her face, she made it over to them, not noticing as Jet ran back into the forest to continue his search for more people. Several arms reached out and pulled her into a hug, none of them seeming to care about the wounds that crisscrossed over their skins.

"Thank you" she heard a voice whisper in her ear. Turning, she looked in surprise at Natsu, her heart rate increasing marginally.

"What for?" she asked back.

"I never got a chance to thank you for what you did back on that ship. You woke me up from Hades, you're the reason we won." Blushing, she shook her head and looked away.

"You would have figured it out without me" With a shrug he grinned and looked away from her. With a small smile, she shook her head again, feeling better already. She had seen that look before, after all. It was his I-know-I'm-right-and-I've-already-said-what-I-need-to expression, and she knew, just by seeing it, that she wasn't going to win this battle with him. Closing her eyes, she leaned against his shoulder, allowing his warmth to help relax away some of the pain in her body. There were some pros to having a flamebrain as a partner, after all.

After enough time had passed, they were relieved to see that it appeared everyone had survived the blast from Acnologia, and there was celebration all around, but it was cut short as, one by one, they noticed a strange girl looking down on them from the boulder pile above. Instantly, they all went on guard, anxious with the consideration of their current fighting condition, or lack thereof. That is, until, Natsu let loose a grin and began to wave eagerly.

"Mavis!" he called out, causing all the newly awakened persons to react with expressions ranging from shock to disbelief.

"Mavis?!" Erza repeated, seemingly incapable of believing it. With a sigh of resignation, Lucy just closed her eyes and laid down on the ground behind Natsu, seemingly no longer capable of exerting any more emotion. The last battle with Acnologia only seemed as though it were a few hours before, at most, after all. She was, in short, exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and sleep. At this point, she doubted that she wouldn't even be able to get mad at Natsu and Happy for breaking into her home again. However, that notwithstanding, she couldn't suppress the grain of curiosity that took root within her mind. Cracking her eyes open once more, she gazed up at Mavis and was happy to discover that she didn't have to wait long for an explanation.

"Back then, I took the strength of everyone's bonds and faith and converted all of it into magical power. All of your thoughts allowed one of the three great Fairy Magics, Fairy Sphere, to be activated. It's a magic that will protect the guild from any evil; an absolute defensive magic. However, everyone was sealed in a frozen state" she added, a sad look flashing through her eyes, "and though it has been released, a span of seven years has passed."

The clearing was silent, shock managing to diffuse through even Lucy's numbed emotional state. 'Seven...years?' Lucy thought, her eyes growing wider at the thought. 'It can't be true, can it? We were just facing Master Hades and Acnologia, how can seven years have passed?' Casting small glances to either side, it seemed as though everyone else was sharing her thoughts.

The silence was broken by the Master's voice, who seemed to be taking the situation surprisingly well. "What now? So the First protected us, eh?" he remarked, more than asked, a large grin on his face. As though it were the key to a door, everyone sighed as a sense of resignation and acceptance raced throughout their group.

"No, I'm just an ethereal body," Mavis responded, "but unwavering faith and resilient bonds will bring even miracles to your side. It's become a wonderful guild, Third," she said, as she faded with a smile on her face. It wasn't until she had disappeared that they realized that had been her farewell. Licking suddenly dry lips, Lucy and the rest turned their heads towards Makarov, looking for his guidance as to what they should do now.

With a sigh, and a small smile, he nodded his head and spoke "Well, I suppose we've been gone long enough. Let's head home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ello there! I'm glad that I managed to get this second chapter typed out so quickly. I'm hoping to post the first few chapters relatively quickly in order to get the story going. As I get further into the story, I may take a little longer to write as I am a full-time student with quite a bit on my plate. As I was writing this, one of the predominate songs I was listening to was "Kung Fu Piano: Cello Ascends" by the Piano Guys. If you haven't listened to them, I would highly recommend it. They are, in short, amazing at what they do. The following characters and settings belong to Hiro Mashima, to whom I would like to extend thanks for creating the series in the first place.**

* * *

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, constantly swaying. Natsu felt almost at the edge of his endurance as he once again faced the enemy he had never been able to vanquish: Motion sickness. He could always tell when it was about to hit, even when it seemed to occur almost instantly. First, was the blinding headache as his eyesight began to swirl, then his stomach began to roll and, at that point, the only thing left to do was lurch for the nearest bucket or railing and hold on for dear life as he emptied the contents of his stomach. Throughout it all, he tried to remain aware enough to respond to the heckling he was receiving from his friends, namely Gray.

"Seven years and you still can't hold down your lunch? Weak. I would've expected the years to have given you some sense of control, after all," the ice mage taunted, seemingly oblivious to Juvia hanging over his every word. Natsu raised his head to try to growl at the damned stripper, but the action instead escalated his sickness and he collapsed over the railing once more. Lost in his motion-induced haze, he didn't notice the footsteps approach behind him, but he did notice the cool cloth that was suddenly pressed against the back of his neck. Flailing, he tried to reach back and punch that arrogant stripper for assaulting him in his weakened state, but instead was met with a smack to the back of his head and an irritated screech.

"Will you quit that?! I'm trying to help!" shouted Lucy. Sulking and blushing slightly at his mistake, Natsu hulked over the ship's railing once more, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the ship's movement as well as feel it. "There, was that so difficult?" she asked, some irritation still managing to creep into her voice. To his relief, he noticed that the cloth did help a little. He was still feeling nauseous, but at least the actual act had stopped, and he felt as though he could hold a slow conversation, if he tried.

"Thank you" he mumbled, a small grin growing on his face. With a snort, Lucy grinned back at him and helped him to sit on the deck, still keeping the cold cloth on the back of his neck.

"It's something my nanny used to do when I would get sick traveling to and from my papa's work. I figured it was worth a shot" she said, her smile fading a little as she thought of her childhood. It wasn't long until it was back to normal, however. Turning her face, she looked over to where Jet and Droy were hovering over Levy, Gajeel pretending not to hover in the background. With a laugh, she turned her gaze to where Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna sat near the Rajinshuu, Elfman and Evergreen trying not to look at each other. With a small laugh and a look of surprise, she continued to look around, watching as everyone relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine, knowing that with each passing minute they were growing closer and closer to home.

With one final glance to Natsu, who had partially collapsed against her shoulder, she looked over at Bisca, wondering why no one had broached the subject as to what had happened in their absence.

"Bisca?" she finally decided to call over, hating not knowing what she was getting herself into, "What happened while we were gone?" At her words, all of the islanders looked up in curiosity, and even Natsu managed to open his eyes to see, while all of their rescuers tensed suddenly and avoided eye contact. After a few moments, Al finally heaved a sigh and raised his head.

"Well, we haven't exactly flourished" he said quietly. No one seemed to have any trouble hearing him, however, in the silence that had descended upon the ship. Reaching a hand up to scratch the back of his neck, he elaborated, "When you first disappeared, we put all our resources towards trying to find you again, and gradually the job requests started drying up when we weren't taking any. We were eventually kicked out of our hall by a new guild that has formed, and we set up in an old, abandoned tavern on the outskirts of Magnolia. Macao has been doing the best he can after the Council appointed him Guild Master, but we're falling apart and some have begin to talk that it might be better if we just shut down before we lose what reputation we have left."

Silence continued to permeate throughout the ship as everyone's expressions grew grim as they contemplated this new information. Had things really managed to deteriorate to this point? How would they recover? Doubt and dread spread like a blanket of disease through each person's mind, weighing them down and successfully exterminating the happiness that had been so prevalent not minutes before.

Natsu heard the words as well, even in his half-aware state. In spite of his usual inability to read emotional situations, even he was able to feel the despair that clutched at the hearts of his friends. Grimacing and battling the sickness until it crouched at the back of his mind, he raised his head from Lucy's shoulder and gripped her forearm, giving it a reassuring squeeze before looking up at the rest.

"Who cares?" he managed to grit out, causing everyone to whip their heads around in astonishment at him. Forcing a grin onto his face, he continued, "We're Fairy Tail. We'll just bounce back like we always do, because now we're all together again." Weak smiles appeared on everyone's faces, gradually growing stronger and more confident with each passing moment. His part done, the sickness took hold once more and he jumped up, dry heaving over the rail once more. Startled out of her stupor by his sudden movement, Lucy quickly jumped to her feet and ran to dampen the rag once more before returning to his side to resume her ministrations. Smiling thankfully at her once more, Natsu slid back down to the deck and lay down over her legs, retreating once more to huddle in that pitiful corner of his mind.

Looking up towards the horizon, Lucy felt a small bit of pity for Natsu, knowing they still had several days of journey ahead of them, but this was grossly overshot by the feeling of hope he had managed to bring to them once more. Somehow, someway, they would succeed and bring Fairy Tail back to the way it was before.

* * *

The days passed and Natsu continued to stay by Lucy's side, not only because she seemed to have a knack for dispersing his motion sickness slightly, but also because he didn't want to leave her and Happy's side. They were a team, after all, and words aside, when Acnologia had attacked, he had felt a small bit of fear that he would never see them again. However, when land finally came into sight, he almost wept with relief and called Happy over to fly him directly there. Laughing slightly, Lucy waved them off before sternly reminding them to stay on the dock until the rest of them arrived. Laughing in return, Natsu promised before departing with Happy, making it to solid land in record time.

Another hour passed before the ship finally docked, giving Natsu plenty of time to recover as he waited, bored and hungry, for the rest of them to disembark from the vessel. When Lucy reached the dock, he hurried forward only to bump into Gray, which, of course, ignited a fight that Erza made short work of dispelling. Shaking her head, Lucy laughed and looked over the town of Hargeon, excitement trilling through her at the thought that they were just 2 hour's train ride from home. She wanted to see how much had really changed in seven years. The entire situation felt surreal, as though she was in an old fairy tale her mother used to read to her as a little girl.

Making her way over to Natsu, he grinned, grabbed her hand, and began pulling her down the street. Everyone else quickly followed, anxious as well to get home. Lucy laughed, thinking about how some things never changed, but she was surprised when she saw him heading towards the train station. Her shock must have shown, because when he looked back, a grimace crossed his face before he shrugged, answering her unspoken question, "It'll get us back to the guild faster"

Reaching back, she grinned and grabbed ahold of Erza's hand, who seemed surprised at the action, but allowed herself to be drug along in an uncharacteristic show of compliance, before reaching back and grabbing ahold of someone else. And so, a chain of laughing people began to develop in the streets of Hargeon, causing the inhabitants to look at them in surprise that so many grown people could behave so childishly, but this went unnoticed by the members of Fairy Tail, who were just celebrating being alive and kicking.

* * *

A short, albeit miserable, train ride (for Natsu, at least) later, the group disembarked in Magnolia and excitedly began to follow Al, Bisca, Jet, Droy, Max, and Warren up the path that led to their new headquarters. Several minutes passed as their surroundings changed from the city proper to the outskirts of Magnolia, and they eventually came to a run down little place with a decrepit sign out front.

If it wasn't for the words on the sign reading Fairy Tail, it was doubtful the returning members would have believed this was what their headquarters had been reduced to. Chickens clucked and pecked as they made their way around the yard that was overgrown with weeds and patchy grass. But what really caught their attention was the commotion occurring in the front door of the guild.

"Oh no" Bisca muttered, "It's those goons from Twilight Ogre, the new guild in Magnolia. Nothing but a bunch of bullies, they are" she growled. With a delighted smirk on his face at the thought of getting to beat up some people already, Natsu stalked forward, quickly followed by the rest. Upon hearing Macao's voice calling out for Romeo, he began to run. Rolling her eyes slightly, a vague thought of 'Here we go' passed through Lucy's mind as she ran after him.


	3. Chapter 3

**GREETINGS again! I thank those who've already begun to follow and favorite this story and welcome/encourage those who are still to do so. Of course, I must also thank you for inflating my own ego, without which I would be a hollow shell of a human being. Then again, considering my ginger-caused souless state, perhaps I already am. In any case, here's the third installment of For Better or Worse! I decided to cut it off just a little ways before I had originally intended, but I also included more than I had meant to in order to compensate a tad. The song playing in my head today is ****_Waiting Game_**** by Banks, though if you want another great song that has nothing to do with this story at all, ****_Zombie_**** by The Cranberries is wonderful, in my opinion. Welp, enough of my rambling, I'll let you get to the story and I hope you will enjoy. I highly encourage you to take a few seconds at the end and just share your thoughts with me regarding the story so far in the form of a review. I am highly receptive to and enjoying of feedback!**

* * *

To say the battle was fierce would be a gross overstatement. In a part of her mind, Lucy was even sure that Pluu could take these idiots, if her own lovable idiots hadn't gotten to them first, that is. Laughing, Lucy watched as the thugs in the doorway were put down in the space of a few moments before they decided to perform a strategic withdrawal. Grinning, the Tenrou group turned their attention to their guild and smiles and laughter abounded.

The drink ran and the conversation flew, all while the moon waxed and waned above them. If there was a time when the members of Fairy Tail were happier, then that time was far from their thoughts now. After all, how does one compete with the joy that is generated by the reuniting of family?

Lucy sat next to Levy, nursing a mug of ale and laughing as she chatted with faces she had thought she might never see again. There were differences, to be sure. Different hall, different ages, different strengths, but the heart of Fairy Tail was the same as it had always been. Periodically, Lucy would duck or weave, avoiding the flying debris from the numerous brawls that took place throughout the evening, most of them involving Gray and Natsu. It was a skill that everyone in the guild developed over time, an almost sixth sense for knowing when something was approaching with intent towards imminent braining. It really was only a coincidence that the skill could be used in the field, as well. When in the guild hall, there was no particular intent to train or strengthen one's powers, despite arguments to the contrary. It was about the friendships that were born there, the bonds that allowed Mavis to save the Tenrou bunch in the first place.

Looking across the hall, Lucy caught Natsu's eye as he lay on the ground, recovering from his latest bout with Gray. She grinned and gave him a thumb's up before returning to the conversation at hand, that is, Levy lamenting about her prospects of reading Lucy's book, as she had no real idea what might have happened to it in the interim. Gajeel was sitting across from Levy, acting for all the world as though he didn't care, but Lucy suspected otherwise every time she saw his gaze flit to her friend. With the conversation acting as a reminder, Lucy made a mental note to stop by her old apartment the following day and determine its condition.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, at the sudden shove from the side, which she quickly discovered to be Natsu cramming himself in next to her on the already crowded bench. Grumbling under her breath, she cast him an irritated glance and began the defense of her food, which he began to try and steal almost immediately. When Lucy refused to yield, Natsu began to whine.

"But I need to recover my strength so I can beat up Gray again!" he protested, ignoring Gray's outburst of "What do you mean again?!". Rolling her eyes, Lucy cast him an unamused look.

"I think that should be even more incentive not to feed you. The less strength you have, the less property you can damage," she countered, dryly. Giggling, Levy winked at the pair of them.

"Aww, Lu-chan, I think he's just trying to get you to pay attention to him" she teased enjoying the faint blushes that cropped up on the pair's faces. Suppressing her own embarrassment, Lucy grinned at Natsu.

"Well, he already gets a wealth of attention every time he breaks into my apartment. That, coupled with our team, means it's a rare day when he doesn't draw my attention in some way."

Laughing, Natsu nodded and joined in. "Yeah, and those kinds of attentions are almost as fun as when you decide to be nice," he teased her.

Lucy began to glower at him before deciding she would be the more mature one and not rise to his baiting, that is, until, he continued to speak.

"Besides, it's funny to see all the ugly faces she makes when she's mad."

Now, Lucy's ego could only take so much, and for some reason this idiot had always known, almost on an instinctual level, what to do to push her buttons. Growling, she quickly stood up and grabbed his wrist as he tried to scamper away. Gulping a little as Lucy took on what Natsu deemed her "Erza-face", he quickly tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.

Levy, on the other hand, was giggling as she watched Lucy dragged the great and might Salamander out the door on his rear. Even Gajeel showed amusement as he watched the retreating pair. When the natural instinct to find someone to share a joke with drew their gazes to one another, they both quickly looked away, a small blush crossing Levy's cheeks as she turned her attention to her teammates, who were both clamoring for her attention.

* * *

Outside and away from any more potential damage to furniture, Lucy tried hard to hold on to her temper, but felt it slipping away in the wake of the general good humor that permeated throughout the night. Finally, she stopped and shook her head, laughing, before looking back at Natsu. The idiot was looking confused and more than a little scared at her sudden flip of emotion, not quite sure what to expect next. Not knowing what else to do, he let loose a timid smile, hoping that it wouldn't result in his untimely death. As Happy (who, last he had seen, was happily sitting at Charle and Wendy's table with a multitude of fish) had said many times, Lucy was scary when she was really mad.

Sighing, Lucy sat down on the grassy embankment on the side of the road, leaning back to look up at the stars through the trees. Relieved that murder didn't seem to be on her mind anymore, Natsu's smile grew and he plopped down next to her on the knoll.

After several minutes of companionable silence, Lucy finally spoke quietly. "I'm so glad to be back. Even before everything happened, a part of me didn't like being divided up like we were for those exams."

Shrugging, Natsu crossed his arms behind his head. "You just didn't want to go up against me since you knew you'd lose" he grinned at her, teasing.

Rolling her eyes once again at her partner who's idiocy never seemed to cease, she chose to ignore the comment and returned her attention to the stars. She sought out the constellations of those spirits who were in her control, an old habit that she had never really gotten out of. Each time she gained a new contract, she made an effort to memorize the new constellation. Lucy treated the routine almost as a duty, figuring that if she couldn't even be bothered to memorize the constellation associated with her spirits, then she couldn't even begin to be their friend.

After a few more minutes of silence, Natsu's grin grew less teasing as he looked over at her. "I get what you mean. I really wanted to pass the exam, but even I didn't want to really fight other members of the guild. It makes me wonder if there's another way the S Class exams could be done" he trailed off, frowning slightly as he turned his attention back to the heavens.

Snorting a little, Lucy hummed in agreement. She was struggling a little to search out some of the less prominent constellations at the moment, the drink she had consumed that evening making her head spin. Blinking a little, she reached up and rubbed her eyes with one hand before giving up and looking over at her partner.

"You're right, though" she says, resigned, causing Natsu to look over at her in confusion, "I wouldn't stand a chance against you in a duel." Closing her eyes, she sighed, becoming slightly frustrated yet again at her lack of skill relative to the rest of their rather larger than life team. However, instead of crowing about his own prowess on the battlefield, as she more than half expected, Natsu surprised her by grabbing her shoulder until she opened her eyes.

A confident grin crossed across his face as he spoke, "You're as powerful as any of us, just in your own way. Not everyone can blow things up like me, you know. I think I'm more than enough for one guild," he laughs, and even she has to grin at the obvious, if somewhat unexpected logic he was showing at the moment. "If there's anyone who has the spirit of the guild more than you, I'll eat my scarf. You care about everyone, Luce, and so you remind us what we are fighting for"

Several more moments passed as her smile slowly grew. Finally, she reached up and grabbed the hand that was still on her shoulder, her eyes a little wetter than she wanted. "Thank you" she responded quietly. He always seemed to know what to say during the important times, and she wouldn't have her idiot any other way.

To her surprise, he twisted his wrist and took hold of her hand before lying back down in the grass. It occurred to her that maybe she should be embarrassed at this display, yet the only emotion she could feel was acceptance, as dull as that might seem. Holding hands with Natsu under the stars felt as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Gradually the peace of the night settled like a haze over their mind as the drink and excitement of the day finally sapped away their energy. Both slipped into slumber, the stars watching over them and a warm summer breeze wrapping them in its embrace.

* * *

It wasn't too long after that Levy and Laxi wandered, somewhat drunkenly, down the same road on their way to the turnoff that led to the new dorm building. When they came across the pair in the grass, who had deviated towards each other in their sleep, Levy and Laxi both clamped hands over their mouths to stifle their giggles, meeting each other's gaze in a conspiratorial manner. The worst of their drunken haze forgotten, they quickly let sleeping dragons lie and raced back up the road towards the guild hall to share their latest gossip. Mira would reward them heavily for something as juicy as this, after all. In the following weeks, if Lucy or Natsu noticed the whispers or sly remarks made to them by their fellow guild members, then they made no show of it.

The following morning, after waking to find herself cuddled next to Natsu's rather impressive body temperature, she had felt some embarrassment to be sure, but the overwhelming feeling that coursed through her was a sense of rightness.

'Besides, it wasn't as though I haven't slept with the idiot before' she thought, envisioning many mornings after discovering that he had slipped into her bed in the dead of the night. Over time, she had simply become resigned to his actions, much as she just came to accept the rest of his personality. Sitting up, she stretched her arms towards the brightening sky, indicating it was almost dawn. With a groan, she lay back down in the grass, and Natsu made short work of gathering close to her once more.

Lucy laughed a little as she watched him. He really could be charming when he wasn't trying to destroy everything within a 10 mile radius. Granted, that tended to be his mindset everytime he was conscious, so maybe she should rephrase her sentiments to be limited to whenever he was out cold. Looking back at the sky, she frowned as she went over her list of things to take care of today. Foremost in her mind was to see the state of her apartment. Odds were not in her favor that her landlady had held it vacant for her, so she was expecting a day or two of trying to track down her belongings that were most important to her and replacing items she would need. Of course, she needed to figure out where she would actually be living first. Stifling a groan in frustration so as not to wake her sleeping partner, she reached a hand up and squeezed the bridge of her nose.

Last night was nice to just party and catch up with everyone, but with the cold rational of daybreak, all the complications of unknowingly being gone for seven years began to catch up with her, and she was quickly beginning to feel the onset of a headache. Of course, that could also be the alcohol from the night before reminding her of it's presence, but she really didn't think she had enough for it to be this bad. Pushing the thoughts from her mind, she looked over at her partner once again, grateful that he managed to relax her even in his sleep.

The thought that Natsu could ever be comforting was amusing to her, yet, she always managed to feel a bit more at peace when she was with him, even when she was screaming at him for accidentally getting beer in her hair during one of his many fights or when he snuck into her bathroom while she was in it. Natsu was Natsu, and he was so happy and carefree that he just exuded hope for the future to everyone who surrounded him. Before she could stop herself, a wistful sigh passed her lips as she felt the selfish desire that she could have as large of an impact as he did. In the time she had known Natsu, she had grown stronger and more confident in her own skills, but, in the end, he was still the one who consistently lead them to victory. Grimacing, Lucy squashed that particular train of thought before it could get started. She was quite aware that she wasn't jealous of her partner, more that, as always, she didn't feel exactly worthy of him.

Sighing, Lucy untangled herself from his clinging arms and stood, twisting and cracking her back just a tad sore from a night on the ground. Looking back down at Natsu one last time, she quickly readjusted his askew scarf and vest in order that he might be just that much more protected from the slight chill of the morning air. Then, with an expression caught somewhere between annoyance at the chores of the day and excitement to see how the city had changed, she turned and began to jog down the road, figuring she might as well get back into her workout routine before she let herself fall out of it. One didn't naturally just keep up with Erza, Gray, and Natsu, after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the guild, Makarov sat with Wakaba and Macao in order to get a more thorough understanding of the straights the guild was in at the current moment, a grim, if faintly amused, expression on his face. The small, aged man nodded as he fiddled with his mustache before calling across the guild hall.

"Mira, Erza, Gildarts, be ready to leave in an hour. We've got business to attend to in town" the Wizard Saint ordered, a glint in his eye that made Macao and Wakaba more nervous than they should have, though their nerves were quickly overshadowed by the thought that things really were going back to normal. With a shared look of "what can you do?" between the fourth master and his advisor, they turned back to Makarov with large grins.

"We're coming too."


	4. Chapter 4

"Puun puuuun" went the little dog. Snowman, more like, but no one would ever dare say such a thing to his, or Lucy's face. Some things were simply not done. Groaning a little as she walked beside Plue, still stretching out the aches from sleeping on the ground, she confessed some of her frustrations to the ever eager-to-listen celestial spirit.

"It's been forever since I've been home, Plue. What do you think has happened to it?" Before Plue could even give what she took to be an answer, she found herself standing in front of the building that still, hopefully, housed her flat. Biting her lip, Lucy looked down at Plue in worry before reaching up to knock on the door, which was suddenly wrenched open before she could make a sound causing her to flail backwards in alarm.

Once she had calmed her racing heart, Lucy looked up in surprise only to have her eyes widen further at the somewhat familiar, if significantly older looking, woman who stood on the doorstep.

"L-landlady?" she inquired trepidatiously.

"Hmph" she grunted, putting her hands on her hips. Lucy felt herself shrinking in on herself even as she wondered what the woman could possibly have against her this time. She was stranded on a fucking island, after all! Watching as the woman opened her wrinkled, over-lipsticked mouth, Lucy winced and waited for the verdict she knew was coming.

"I heard you were back, and, more important than anything else, safe," Lucy raised a cautious gaze to her landlady's eyes, only to have the false delusion of hope shattered upon the cobblestones as the woman continued. "But your rent is an entirely different story! I held your flat open, so that leaves you with seven years of back pay! That's 5,880,000 Jewels, and you're not setting foot in your flat until you pay!"

'Is this what tunnel vision feels like?' Lucy wondered idly as she felt her world narrow until it encompassed nothing more than her landlady and herself, flashes of black and white tickling at her peripheral vision. With that last statement, the older woman gave what looked to be a vaguely sympathetic look before slamming the door in her face. Lucy, as could be expected, was incapable of doing more than just staring at the door blankly for several minutes. From far away, she seemed to hear a high pitched keening, and a detached part of her mind irritatedly wished that some parents would learn how to control their children in public. That is, until, she realized the noise was being emitted from her own throat.

Snapping her mouth closed with a little "pop", she blindly allowed Plue to reach up and tug her towards some crates that sat along the canal that ran through the midst of the city. Plopping down dejectedly, Lucy rested her forehead in her hands, rubbing at her temples in an attempt to chase away the headache that had been threatening to emerge since that morning.

"There's no way I can pay off my flat" she groaned allowed, barely noticing Plue who was trying to comfort her. "And there's no way I can ask anyone else for help. They're all probably in similar situations with their homes!" Heaving a sigh, Lucy settled for closing her eyes against the harsh reality of day. "It seemed as though so little had changed last night, but now I see how much actually has. The guildhall is in shambles, Romeo's almost grown up, Jet and Droy look so different, Bisca and Alzack even have a kid! Everything has changed, Plue, and not just for us" she mumbled, her voice trailing off. Opening her eyes again, she looked over at her little spirit, "Everyone was so shocked about Cana and Gildarts."

"Puun-puuun!" Lucy gave a half-hearted smile at his comforting little noises before tilting her head back to gaze at the fluffy clouds that passed through the otherwise clear sky.

"Her father...I wonder how my father is doing. I've just realized that he hasn't heard from me in seven years, even if I feel as though I saw him a little over a month ago. He's probably worried.." she felt herself trail off again, indecision clawing at her stomach. "Should I go visit him?" she asked, not sure what she was expecting as an answer from Plue. Snorting a little, the irony of the situation couldn't help but make her smile. "What do you think of that? I'm actually wanting to go visit my dad for once. But I-I'm not going to ask for money" she said, determinedly. She knew her little friend wouldn't think less of her if she was, but for some reason she was still so determined to make sure that everyone understood that she was done relying on her father.

'It's probably silly of me to get so worked up about something as silly as that' she thought, grimacing a little. No matter how often she told herself otherwise, sometimes she felt as though her pride meant far more to her than it rightfully should, especially when it came to her friends.

* * *

"That's what I'm saying old man. Pay us back what we lent ya' and ev'rythin' will be fine. There's nothin' more ta discuss" The fat, middle aged man who sat behind the desk in front of Makarov truly deserved the title of Master Ogre, Erza thought dryly. It didn't help that his smell was a wondrous blend of unwashed body and sickly sweet cigar smoke, the latter of which he waved around in front of them with little care for where the embers flew. It was all Erza could do to not become ill at the stench, and she wondered idly how Master managed to remain as calm and composed as he currently was.

"That being said, money isn't just going to magically appear just because you taunt us" Makarov pointed out, for all appearances a frail old man. "As you well know, we have so few funds that it is a miracle that we're able to get by as is."

"Are ya tryin' ta pick a fight wi' me?!" the Ogre (as Erza had taken to calling him) shouted, rather overdramatically.

"Not at all!" Makarov assured him. "We'll pay you back what we owe you...some day." he added as an after thought.

At this, the Ogre began to almost foam at the mouth. Erza was somewhat surprised at his response. Could he really not remember that Master was one of the 10 Mage Saints? Sure, the little man hadn't exactly brought the subject up, but it wasn't like there was another Master Makarov associated with Fairy Tail. Erza had to forcibly restrain herself from snorting as the atrocious man began to threaten them, of all things. She couldn't help but wish he would actually give her a reason to knock his overly large head against a wall. In fact, she was almost feeling scientific about the matter as she wondered if, should she bang a rock against his skull, the rock or the cranium would crack first.

"Come, come now" Makarov responded calmly as he sought to soothe this beast. "Why don't we go over what is really owed, again? Besides, beating up your debtors won't make your money come back any faster"

"This is about your guild's reputation, dammit!" the ogre shouted

Still playing dumb to the point where Erza felt the corners of her mouth twitch, the Master kept going. "I was under the impression we came here to talk about money, but if you really want to talk reputation as well, then I'm sure we can work that in"

"Don't play dumb! Ya know wha' I'm talkin' about!"

"'Return what you owe', our guild's creed, is that what you're talking about? Well, let's take another look at what we owe" Makarov countered, his expression growing dim. Erza smiled a little and cast a glance to her side, meeting Mira's gaze before shifting her stance marginally. "Seven years worth of damage to our guild and our members. Seven years worth of tears cried because of the pain felt by our children, We need to pay all of that back to you." Erza smirked as she felt a flare of power from her side, knowing without even looking that Mira's demon soul now looked over the Master's shoulders. Not wanting to be left behind, Erza quickly requipped into her Purgatory Armor, which she knew to be one of her more intimidating sets. The redhead watched in supreme satisfaction as the Ogre's expression quickly turned to one of fear.

"This is what we owe you" Makarov finished as he began to grow in size, quickly reaching a point of being able to look down on the man who had caused his guild so much grief in the seven years they had been gone.

From outside, Macao and Wakaba let loose a collective sigh at the sudden commotion that arose from within Twilight Ogre's guild hall.

"So much for talking thing's out" Wakaba muttered, inhaling on his cigar.

"Looks like it was as impossible as ever." Macao retorted, a short laugh escaping, "I think I'm getting nostalgic" The pair shared a look before breaking into identical grins. Things were going to be better from here on, they just knew it. From the side, Gildarts looked over the scene with a small smile. Somethings just never really changed, after all.

* * *

The train ride to Acrifa was quiet, for the most part. After Natsu had wheedled and cajoled as best he could in light of his motion sickness, Lucy eventually caved and let him lay down on her lap where he finally managed to pass out. Sighing, she sat looking out the window as she absently ran her fingers through his hair, not fully conscious of her actions. The landscape trundled by and the weather was clear and warm. Despite everything else that had happened that day, Lucy finally felt relaxed. After all, the sun was shining, the spring air smelt of lilacs and rain, and she was actually eager to see her father.

Happy sat on her other side, munching on a small fish he had convinced her to purchase him, despite her waning funds. Lucy might call him a stupid cat more often than not, but she really did care for the little feline, a fact that wasn't missed by any of their team. Looking up at his two friends, Happy giggled and got a sly look on his face before jumping into the teasing sentence that was almost like a catchphrase for him, at this point.

"You liiiiiiike him!" he suddenly trilled, startling Lucy out of her reverie. Blinking and looking down, she was suddenly aware of the blush spreading up through her chest and neck as she snatched her fingers from Natsu's hair.

"Shut up, cat" she mumbled, turning her head to the side to avoid eye contact

However, she should not have been naive enough to think that he would actually listen. Instead, Happy spread his wings and began to fly circles about the compartment, repeating "She didn't deny it" over and over in a little sing-song voice.

Lucy glared at the ungrateful feline. "Will you shut up?!" she almost yelled, just barely managing to quiet her voice to a forceful whisper.. The last thing she wanted was for Natsu to wake up and either puke on her, realize what the conversation (if it could be called that) was about, or both.

"You're going to wake him up!" she added, trying to get Happy to sit down again before she lost her temper and lept up at the cat. When her efforts seemed to have no effect, she suddenly had a brainstorm and sat back smugly in her seat. Closing her eyes and linking her fingers behind her head, Lucy did her best to impersonate Natsu when he felt he was being rather clever. "You know, if all you're going to do is tease me, I'm not going to want to buy you fish ever again"

To her satisfaction, this caused the Exceed to pause in the air as he weighed his seemingly limited options. Finally, Happy giggled and settled on the seat once more before looking up at Lucy. "Mira will just get me more" he stated, proud at outsmarting the blonde before he flew back into the air and began to sing his little song again. Lucy felt her eyebrow twitch out of reflex before she forgot about the sick Dragon Slayer on her lap and jumped up, trying to catch the surprisingly nimble Exceed.

Outside the compartment, passerby stared in wonder at the sudden commotion from the compartment. It sounded like a battlefield between the shrieks and the crazed, high pitched laughter, and it was almost expected when the door suddenly burst open. However, instead of seeing the bloody remains of the defeated party, they instead saw a flash of pink, black, and green before the mysterious blur disappeared out to the small small door in the back of the car that led to the small platform outside. Those closest to the door were either wincing or looking disgusted as sounds of retching carried above the noise of the train.

Turning their heads back to the compartment that had been the source of so much entertainment so far, they were surprised to see that the only two occupants were, not armies as they had thought, but no more than a young woman and a blue cat, both wearing identical expressions of guilt.

Before anyone could think to remark on the oddness of the situation, the train jolted as it began to slow down. Lucy and Happy glanced at each other, seemingly to confirm a course of action. Without a word, Lucy turned and began to gather all of their luggage while Happy flew down the corridor, following Natsu to make sure he got off the train. Far too often had they found themselves at their destination but with the Dragon Slayer no where in sight, having been too ill to get off the train before it was put into motion once more. Thus, it became a habit for Happy to grab the poor bastard and get him off the train a bit early in order that he might have some time to recover before they needed to get going, rather than waste time watching him wallow in self-pity at the train station.

* * *

"Is there any particular reason why you two are still following me?" Lucy huffed, still irritated from the train. Her irritation wasn't assuaged by the sudden outburst of dramatics that occurred at her inquiry.

"Because we don't have any money!" Natsu wailed, shortly followed by Happy's nonsensical exclamations regarding fish.

Confusion and curiosity overriding her lingering annoyance, Lucy paused just outside the merchant guild, Love & Lucky to turn around to look at the ridiculous duo. "Why are you two worrying about money? I didn't think you were paying rent,"

Pouting and hanging his head, Natsu told her about how, despite their vigorous searching, it seemed as though his safe with all of their savings in it had disappeared in the seven year interim, and now they didn't have money for their first (and often times, only) love: food.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy turned and began to walk through the doors of her father's guild, not even deigning to respond to their antics. She looked around, hoping to see Judo Heartfilia in the lobby, but to no avail. Striding forward she made her way to the main counter and cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she begins, "I'm looking for Judo Heartfilia. He's a member here, correct?"

The middle aged woman begins to look very nervous and asks "Are you his daughter?"

"Yes, I am. Is he no longer a member?" Lucy could feel Natsu hovering over her shoulder, and could hear him quietly ask if anything was wrong, but ignored him

"I'm sorry, there's really no easy way for me to put this" the woman begins, "Judo passed away a month ago"

The first thing she felt was pain; the last thing she recalled was light. She could have sworn her eyes were open, but all she could see was darkness. It was like waking up on Tenrou Island all over again, except this time a part of her brain was still aware of her surroundings, even if she wasn't able to take conscious note of them. A numbness settled over her, and she broke out in a cold sweat. In all her imaginings, she had never entertained this possibility.

A part of her was able to recall feeling a vague sense of warmth at her side, and the next thing she was aware of was leaning against Natsu as they sat on the grass outside, Happy sitting still and quiet, for once, in front of them. He had his arm around her shoulders and was saying something over and over again, but she couldn't seem to understand what it was. Blinking slowly, Lucy raised her head and looked him in the eyes. As soon as he noticed her movements, he stopped speaking and instead looked at her worriedly.

"Lucy?" he asked timidly. He didn't bother to ask if she was alright. He still remembered exactly how he felt when Igneel disappeared, and how he most certainly was not "alright". Instead, he just wanted to know if she was on her way back to the living.

Lucy responded to her name with a slow blink, and she didn't feel as though she was capable of much more than that, but she forced herself out of her reverie. "Natsu? How did we get out here?"

"You sort of collapsed inside, so I brought you out here to get some fresh air." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Lucy, the lady told us you father was buried in the Acrifa cemetery. Do you want to go there?"

Lucy nodded and swallowed heavily after several moments, before she looked at him with a glimmer of surprise. It was extraordinarily astute of Natsu to ask something like that, especially since he didn't usually pick up on emotional circumstances very well. Finding her curiosity to be overwhelming, she couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"

To be honest, it took Natsu a couple seconds to figure out what the context of her question was, but once he did he gave her a somewhat dry glance. "Just because I don't always know how to explain emotion, doesn't mean I can't feel it. I lost my dad too, remember?"

Biting her lip, Lucy looked down and nodded. "Right, sorry."

"Don't be. Now come on, let's get going" And with that, Natsu wrapped his arm around her waist, helping his partner to her feet before leading her down the road towards the cemetery, where she would at least be able to say one last goodbye.

* * *

**ELLO THERE VIEWERS**

**I tried to incorporate a little more humor in this chapter, though if you felt as though it fell flat, sorry. I really do try, but I'm just a particularly humorous person. I love to laugh and and I appreciate good jokes, I just often find myself incapable of making them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I ask that you take a few seconds to share your thoughts in the review box below! With my class schedule, I'm going to try to get a couple new chapters up each week, though it will probably end up being once a week on the weekends when I have some days off. Maybe if my muse speaks to me a lot, I might even be able to get two up on the weekends. Well, until the next update, then! Stay safe!**


	5. Chapter 5

She felt so cold, staring at the marble slabs that covered her parents. Cold as the stone that bound them to the earth. As she watched the shadows lengthen behind the upright tombstones that bore the names of her remaining family, Lucy was overcome by a sense of surrealism. Shouldn't she be crying? A quick touch of her fingers to her cheeks confirmed that, as she had thought, her eyes were dry. It was strange. She had just found out that she was the last of her family, weren't tears the least emotion she could summon? Yet, despite her best efforts, the pain necessary to elicit them simply would not come.

Lucy stood at her parent's gravesites only a moment more, memorizing the scene, before she turned and began to walk down the road. The graveyard was already on the outskirts of town, a fact for which she was grateful. She didn't feel like being surrounded by strangers at the moment. Behind her, she knew that Natsu and Happy followed, respecting her unspoken desire to be alone. Lucy thought it was odd how beautiful the sunset was that day. Perhaps the sky gods were mocking her, as though if she couldn't cry then the sky wouldn't humor her.

"My dad smells so bad!" a piercingly shrill voice shouted from up above. Looking up, she saw two bimbos walking towards them, complaining loudly of their parental problems, imagined and otherwise. Lucy frowned and looked down as she felt bitterness and resentment bubble up from the depths of her soul, and so she sped up her pace so as to get past these two idiots sooner.

Natsu was another story. He felt the rage bubble up within him at these girl's thoughtless words. He would have been irritated in any case, after all, people just shouldn't talk about their father's like these two idiots were doing. But when they reached the point where one shouted her wish for her father's death while the other laughed, Natsu snapped.

"Hey, dammit! Can't you pay attention to what others are feeling?" He shouted, causing the both of them to pull up short as they looked at him like one would look at an ant who had managed to make its way into the kitchen.

"Why would we care about other people's feelings?" one of them asked. Natsu felt as though he was about to lose control of his flames at their callous words.

"Just shut up and get the hell out of here" he growled, supported by Happy. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Lucy had stopped, though she hadn't turned around.

Where they couldn't see, a sad smile played across her lips. Her father was gone before she could fix things, but she still had her two best friends at her back. The feeling was bittersweet, but, at the same time, it was welcome. Nonetheless, this had gone on long enough.

"Stop" she said quietly, and was rewarded with the instant silence as Natsu and Happy turned to look at her. "I'm sorry for making you two worry about me"

"Lucy," came Happy's small voice after a moment's pause, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay" she responded, turning to look at them over her shoulder, "It just caught me off guard, is all. In Acrifa, back then, was the last time I saw my father. I've never really liked my father, you know, and then things were made worse with the Phantom incident. But then," she turned and looked over the landscape, "But then I went to Acrifa thinking to save him, and my relationship with my father seemed to change. I thought that we might be able to patch things up, but now.." Lucy sighed and looked back at them, "He was the kind of person who would work himself into the ground. Why...Why is it that I feel sad and lonely, but I can't seem to cry?" she finally asked. "Maybe...maybe I really did hate my father."

Natsu frowned as he realized that this is what was really troubling her. "That's not true" he protested. When she looked up at him, he panicked a little, trying to find the words that would express what he was trying to say. "Er, Well, I don't know how to say this, but I think that it doesn't matter if you cry or not. I don't think the presence of tears has anything to do with how you really feel"

Lucy felt a true smile flash across her lips, a sense of relief pouring through her. "Thank you" she said quietly, "This may seem strange, but I really do think I'm alright now," The sense of peace stole through her bit by bit. Once again, Natsu had managed to remind her how she wasn't alone, and that she would be accepted by him no matter what. It was the latter revelation that seemed to mean the most to her, she realized, a faint blush crossing her face. For some reason, she knew that even if she lost everything else in her life, she could still be happy as long as she had Natsu and Happy.

Walking back over to them, she picked up Happy and put him on her head, before hooking her elbow through Natsu's. "Let's go home. You two need food money, after all, and I think it's time we started looking for a job"

* * *

The road was long, but Lucy was thankful for the extra time to mull over her thoughts. She came to realize that, more than anything else, it was the constant "what-ifs" that catalyzed her sadness. She would never know what it was to hug her father again, or even if they would have reached a point where she would voluntarily give him a hug. She would never know if she would make him proud, or if she would be proud of him. There were so many things she would never have the chance to experience, so many things she would never see come to pass.

It was strange how empty these thoughts made her feel though, through it all, she was desperately grateful to have Natsu and Happy at her back, lending her their quiet, but unwavering support.

The sun grew closer and closer to the horizon, and Lucy knew that, unless they wanted to walk through the night, they would need to set up camp soon and continue on in the morning. Pulling herself from her daze, Lucy stopped and looked at her two companions.

"Do you two spy any good place to camp?" she asked, knowing that, with the ever increasing darkness Natsu and Happy had a better chance of finding a safe spot.

Natsu turned his head and began to sniff the air before turning and walking to the left, into a medium-sized stand of trees. "There's water over here and we can do some fishing for dinner" he said, causing Happy to emit an excited yell before zooming after his friend. Chuckling a little, Lucy followed as well and was happy to find a clearing beside a decent sized pond.

With a glance and small nod at each other, Natsu pulled his fishing pole from his pack while Lucy began to set up camp. After baiting the lure, he propped his pole up with some rocks and left Happy to watch it while he collected wood for a fire. Lucy already had a lean-to big enough for the three of them set up, nothing much more than a rope tied around two trees and a tarp draped over. With it being summer, and having Natsu as a personal space heater, there really wasn't any need for vast amounts of insulation. Happy would periodically let loose small exclamations as fish took to his lures, and by the time everyone had finished their respective roles, he had a small pile of trout ready to be cleaned and cooked.

Walking into the forest, Lucy gathered a few thin, but sturdy sticks. After returning to the campsite, she quickly took a knife and sharpened the ends of the sticks while stripping them of bark and leaves. After setting them in the fire for a few seconds to sterilize them, she grabbed several of the fish that Natsu had been cleaning and skewered them in order to cook them over the fire. Happy was content with his three raw, though how he managed to convince them to let him keep three of the fish to himself, Lucy would never fully understand.

Their meal was good, if simple, and Lucy quickly felt the exhaustion of the day weigh down on her. After stifling her third yawn, she sighed and stood.

"Natsu, I'll take the second watch tonight. Wake me when it's turn, okay?" she said him, making her way towards the shelter. She heard a mumbled agreement as she lay down on the bedroll Natsu always remembered to bring. Within seconds, the scents of campfire and pine lulled her into sleep, comfort settling over her better than any blanket she could have found.

The next thing Lucy was aware of was the warmth that surrounded her. Yawning a little, she shifted and turned over on the bedroll, snuggling further into the warmed blankets bunched at her side, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. That was when she noticed that it was far brighter than it should have been, the back of her eyelids glowing red-orange rather than the black she should have seen. The next thing she noticed was far worse, however.

Cautiously opening her eyes, Lucy was shocked to see the bright sunlight of midmorning, at least, and at her side...Natsu. Natsu? Natsu! She had been snuggling Natsu! Several conflicting emotions swept through her mind and, rather than contemplate some of the more complex ones, Lucy settled for irritation and smacked the side of his head.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she shouted, watching with a sick sense of pleasure as the combo attack had him flailing about like a drunken dog. Until, that is, his arms managed to pull down the lean-to, effectively trapping and tangling them in the sun-kissed tarp.

With a growl of irritation as his retaliation seemed to be making the situation worse, Lucy dove on top of Natsu, trying to hold him still. Once he realized she was laying above him, he ceased all movement, looking at her with a confused (and somewhat annoyed) glint in his eyes.

"Luuucyyy" he whined, "what was that for?"

"Why didn't you wake me up for my shift?" she interrogated, refusing to give an inch

"Well" he began before avoiding her gaze and mumbling words under his breath. With a small growl, she glared at him and poked his shoulder, nonverbally demanding the answer. Natsu merely sighed and relaxed in response. "You seemed really tired last night, so Happy volunteered to take your post so you could get some more sleep" he finally got out.

Lucy felt something inside her melt a little, though she was still a little annoyed. With a sigh, she relaxed and gave him a small smile. The silence between them was comfortable, and lasted for several moments before she realized that she was, in fact, lying on top of her nearly-half naked friend. With a small clearing of her throat, she tried to pull back, only to be stopped by the tarp which was still wrapped firmly around them.

"Don't you dare" she said as she looked back at Natsu, spotting a particularly destructive shimmer in his dark green eyes. He pouted in response while she went back to slowly and patiently unwrapping them. After what felt like far too long in an enclosed space with her partner, Lucy finally managed to create an exit and made short work of scrambling out into the open.

Looking around, she suddenly realized that Happy had been mysteriously absent during their dilemma, and she cast her gaze about, searching for the feline. She was feeling rather soft hearted towards him at the moment, and wanted to thank him for taking her shift. However, when she spotted the blue-haired cat sitting on a log with a devilish slant to his mouth, Lucy quickly felt any and all benevolence drying up.

"You liiiiiiiiiiike each other!" he trilled, before flying away into the treetops.

From the road, a sudden, crazed, demonic screech was heard, causing many of the early morning travelers to look cautiously at the small wood before hurrying on their way.

* * *

**Alrighty then, and there's the fifth installment of the story! At this point, I'm not sure where, exactly, I'm going to end it. I definitely know that I want to cover the Grand Magic Games and the Festival of the Dragon King, though, as for after, I'm debating whether or not to keep going or to end it there and begin a sequel. You're thoughts would be much appreciated, both in this matter as well as what you are thinking regarding the story so far! Is it too much, too little? Would you like to see more scenes that are canon, or would you like to see more of what I consider "behind the scenes"? I highly encourage reviews and look forward to reading your opinions. Also, if anyone likes the crossover genre, I've recently started a FT/Sailor Moon Crossover called "Home is Where the Heart is". I already have two chapters uploaded and will begin working on the third chapter tonight, hopefully, after I get done with my calculus homework. Please feel free to take a look at it, and farewell until the next chapter!**

**Also, let's give a big round of applause and thanks to my new beta, Catwho! She's just agreed to take on the project and I look forward to working with her in the future.**


	6. Chapter 6

"But Luuuuucy!" whined Happy, "we told you we were sorry!" The little cat looked down at his stomach, almost positive he could see it moving with the strength of the growls that were emanating from it. He had made the mistake of trying to get Lucy to buy him food as they walked through Magnolia's marketplace, ignoring the hectic morning she had had.

"That's enough, Happy!" she finally snapped, "Both of you just leave me alone for a while!"

Natsu was stunned, not by her outburst (which was positively a rote feature for Lucy), but by the tone of her voice. Before he could say anything, she had stalked off, disappearing into the crowd. Happy and Natsu shared a dejected look before they turned the opposite direction, towards their little house.

"Natsu?" Happy asked as they reached the outskirts of town, "why was Lucy still upset? I thought she said she was okay."

Natsu blinked a little, coming out of his stupor. "I think..I think, in a way, she is okay, and in another, she isn't."

"I don't understand. How can someone be okay and not okay at the same time?"

Natsu thought about the question for a couple minutes "Maybe it's sort of how I feel about Igneel. I'm still not okay with him disappearing, but most of the time I can keep going. Sometimes, though, I still get really sad and can't think of anything else. And Lucy just found out about her dad. I'm guessing it's even worse off for her."

"Oh" Happy said quietly as they reached their door. The duo walked inside and dropped their packs haphazardly wherever they might fall. As one, they sat on the ragged couch and closed their eyes, enjoying the peace of the moment. And a moment it was.

No sooner had they both relaxed that a loud gurgling filled the silence of the little house. Happy looked over at Natsu and began to laugh, but was silenced when a similar noise was emitted from his abdomen.

"Alright, Happy, let's go to the guild. Maybe we can convince them to give us some food"

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

"But Kinanaaaaa, Miraaaaa" Natsu whined

"No 'but's, Natsu. The guild doesn't have the money to try filling your stomach. Why don't you go take a job? There isn't much to choose from, but I'm sure you can find something to do"

Grumbling, Natsu pushed away from the counter and walked dejectedly to the job board. His mood didn't last long, as with each step he grew more and more eager to get back in the field. As he looked over the requests, he eventually chose the one that paid the most, not really looking at the description itself. It was still a pittance of what he used to work for, but, ignoring that fact, he grinned down at Happy.

"Alright, buddy, let's go get Lucy!"

* * *

Death is strange. People go about their lives, living, laughing, loving, crying, and then, one day, they just don't. Their heart ceases to beat, the light fades from their eyes, and those that remain are left with the knowledge that they will never see that person's face again, hear their voice, or see the wonder in their eyes. Those not present at the time of leaving have this sense of never being able to finish things, or see them through to the end. The worst feeling is the thought that they will never get to say what they always meant to, or what they thought they never said enough. It's startling to realize how, once someone is gone, you start to crave nothing more than to hear their voice, or see their face. You will search through hours of film just to hear a few seconds of their speech.

Death is strange. It makes a person realize what truly mattered, but by the time the realization comes, it's too late to act upon it.

Lucy didn't really feel any of this, however. Instead, she sat upon the stairs in a park near her apartment, her mind finally, wonderfully blank. The breeze played with the tips of her hair, rustling the grass and leaves. Groups of children shrieked and laughed as they went about their games, and the fountain splashed and danced. Lucy was unsurprised to feel the numbness take hold of her once more. What could she do, say, or think that would change the situation? Rather than face the hopelessness that came with her own inabilities, Lucy Heartfilia retreated, hiding in the far recesses of her mind. With each passing moment, it grew more and more difficult for her to care about the world around her, and she would have been lost in her apathy had something not woken her from her stupor at the last moment.

"Ooya-san?" she exclaimed in disbelief. Without warning, the imposing woman grasped hold of Lucy's arm and began to drag her out of the park. Terrified, Lucy began to scream, thinking that her landlady was dragging her away to be arrested for not being able to pay rent. When they appeared on Strawberry Street in front of the building housing Lucy's apartment, Lucy's fear grew. Was Ooya-san going to lock her in the basement? Torture? Was that what Lucy's future would amount to?

Thus, it was with a large anticlimax that Lucy suddenly found herself tossed into her apartment. Sitting up, she blinked and looked back at her landlady.

"I cleaned it every week. Most of your clothes have gone bad, though, and I took an outfit, too."

"Wha-"

"Look on the table," Ooya-san interrupted, "they were sent on the same day every year. Another came this morning." And without further ado, she retreated from the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Staggering to her feet, Lucy mutely made her way to her coffee table, which was littered with packages, six, to be exact. On the couch was the seventh, smaller than the rest, yet somehow it managed to consume her entire vision. Lucy reached out a trembling hand and read the small tag. "To my beloved daughter: Happy Birthday, Love, Dad".

It wasn't an overbearing sentence. Just eight little words. Yet, with that short octet, Lucy finally felt the numbness that had wrapped itself around her mind begin to crumble. Her eyes burned, and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop the trembling in her jaw, even after clenching her teeth so tightly she feared they might crack. Turning her gaze slightly, she pulled out the small envelope from beneath the package and slid out the piece of paper within. As she read the words her father had penned, Lucy finally felt her first honest emotion since she had discovered his passing. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and the grief she had thought she could keep at bay consumed her form.

To my beloved daughter,

Happy Birthday! It's been a long time since I heard you vanished along with your friends. I was incredibly worried, but I kept on believing. You resembled Layla so much, you really were a blessed child, so I kept on believing that you would be okay, and that we would be able to meet again.

I'm getting ready to finalize some business in the west. It keeps me busy, but I still think of those days when I was happiest. I think of when I was with you and Layla every day. You are our pride. All I want is that you stay strong and follow whatever path you believe in. I hope I can see you again soon.

Lucy, I've always loved you,

Dad

The note was short, and those who study such things might say it couldn't even considered a true letter, but to Lucy, it became, in that instant, the single most important document she had ever held in her hands. And here she was, staining it with the tears that refused to stop. Setting the paper on her couch, Lucy collapsed inward on herself and let loose a wail, a meager attempt at manifesting the grief that now rolled over her in waves. Lucy was finally feeling the regret that walks hand in hand with Death, and she had finally come to the realization of everything her father's passing truly meant.

To never see him again. To live her life trying to comfort herself with thoughts such as 'he'll always watch over me' and 'at least he's with Mama now', when her heart continues to scream that the thoughts aren't enough. They aren't the same as being able to physically grasp that which you long to see. She finally knew that she had her father's pride and love, but she would never hear him say the words. Perhaps this is where the strangeness of Death finds its exemplification. People will readily admit that Death makes them sad, afraid, and, in some peculiar circumstances, happy. However, no one will admit to the one truth we all share: Death makes us greedy.

Lucy felt the desire for more than what the note could give her. She felt the desire to embrace her father, to kiss his cheek, and to tell him what she hadn't told him in so long.

"I've always loved you, too"

* * *

The first emotion that hit Natsu was the sheer wrongness of the situation. While he almost felt need to congratulate the woman before him on her courage to go through Lucy's rather extensive closet, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed by how odd it felt to see Lucy's clothing on someone else. Just as he was about to open his mouth and say something he probably shouldn't, the woman interrupted his thought.

"Take it easy on her for a bit," Natsu blinked a little at her acceptance of his rather obvious reasons for being here. His interactions with Lucy's landlady had always been minimal, at best, and from what she had told him, Lucy never really spoke with her except to pay rent. Yet, the way she said that... Natsu didn't have enough formal education to be able to accurately describe what struck him as odd about the Landlady's short command, but it would likely be the word choice she used. She didn't order them to leave as someone who didn't know Lucy would. She simply told them to take it easy.

"But," Natsu began, torn between asking how she could know Lucy that well, and what had happened since Lucy had left them that would give them cause to take it easy on her.

"We brought work!" Happy interrupted, showing the woman the flyer from the hall.

"The letter came this morning with seven years worth of rent," the woman explained, before looking out over the canal. Her next words were so quiet that even Natsu almost missed them, "Geez, I guess that's what you call foolish parents."

Natsu and Happy were on opposite planes of thinking. Happy, though he cared about Lucy, was most definitely thinking with his stomach. To his way of thinking, so long as Lucy was near them, there was no way she could be in any real trouble and so, it was more worthy to worry about more pressing concerns, such as the rumblings his stomach was giving off.

Natsu, on the other hand, knew what it was to lose a father, and he also knew Lucy. The dragonslayer may not be what one would call formally educated, but there was one thing he always knew in his heart, if not his mind, that prevented him from being overly worried about his lack of learning, and that was the difference between knowledge and Knowledge.

"Come on, Happy, we need to do something! Let's go work!"

"Aye, sir!" the feline shouted. Turning, Natsu ran down the small alley that Lucy's window overlooked.

"Lucy!" he called, knowing she could hear him, "We're off to work!"

Up above, Lucy's sobs were interrupted by Natsu's voice, causing the aggravation to stir within her, though, if she were to be honest with herself, she was always felt happiness more than anything else. The irritation was more a force of habit than true emotion.

Her annoyance quickly as she felt the sadness within her begin to abate. Hearing Natsu and Happy reminded her that, while it was alright to be sad, life continued to move on with or without her, but as long as she had her friends, she wouldn't have to carry the burden alone. She would miss her father, but with friends like she had, she could fulfill the wish he had left her and continue to be strong on the path she had chosen.

* * *

**Hey there, readers. I know it's been a while, and I apologize. I would say writer's block (though it did play a small role), but the truth is I just started a couple new animes and a new RPG (Aion, check it out if you've never played it ^,^ It takes a bit of time to download, but it's free of spyware and whatnot, and it's really fun. My character name is MixBerkaan, just like on here). **

**Here's the fixed version, and let's give a great big thanks to my Beta, Catwho! She's also written a few FT fics (among others), and I happen to think they are quite good. Go ahead and check out her writing, sometime! I'm finishing up the new chapters to both this story, and my other, "Home is Where the Heart is", and I'm hoping to have them both uploaded by Sunday in honor both of the new episode (how I've been waiting to see the Dragon King Festival animated!) as well as the new chapter in the manga that came out this week. I don't know about you, but I am really enjoying this new Demon arc. Not only are we getting to see more of our favorite characters, but Hiro Mashima is also bringing more of the secondary characters forward and highlighting their strengths (a factor I am enjoying immensely). **

**Until Sunday, readers!**

**Mix**


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh, it's good to be traveling again!" Lucy exclaimed, watching as her hand caught the breeze that raced by outside of the train.

"Speak for yourself," Natsu grumbled, his face growing an even deeper shade of green, if possible."

"I am, idiot," she responded, annoyance crossing her features at the boy who sat next to her.

"Perhaps it is time to put him out of his misery..." Erza contemplated.

Gray grinned at the suffering dragon slayer. "Nah, let the hot head suffer a bit more."

Erza turned to look at the half naked man, a serious expression on her face. "Since when do we let our comrades suffer needlessly?" Erza replied, her voice low.

Almost instantly, Gray was shifting in his seat in an attempt to not provoke the warrior. After several moments, he finally settled on an excuse that he thought was halfway believable. "Err, of course, Erza, I was just making a joke?" Lucy rolled her eyes at the pair of them and looked out the window, sighing a little. A smile played at the corners of her mouth as she listened to the general chatter that seemed to follow them wherever they went.

"Wendyyyy, Troiaaa" Natsu moaned, interrupting her near-meditation. Lucy and Gray both fought off the urge to smack the pink-haired invalid.

"Can't do that, Natsu. We can't have you build an immunity if I need to cast it on you in battle." The girl answered, her voice regretful.

"Uggggh" was his only reply.

Lucy shook her head, sighing, though she couldn't prevent the small laugh that escaped her lips. Turning, she looked over at Erza, who held the job flier in one hand. "So what are we supposed to be doing again?"

The warrior shrugged, and handed the slip of paper so she could see for herself. "Something about catching bandits, nothing too new."

"Well, at least the reward is high," Lucy muttered as she stared down at the slip of paper.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another groan from her side, followed by the nearly incomprehensibly moan of "are we there yet?".

"Not yet," she answered softly, a small, resigned smile suffusing across her face.

Natsu groaned again, and took several seconds to compose himself before grating out, "Luce, can you do the ship thing again?"

Lucy was rather confused, especially considering how long it had been since they had actually been on a ship as well as all that had happened since. "The wha- oh, yeah, I guess so. I'll be right back." With an instant of clarity, her face brightened and she stood up, carefully leaning Natsu against the window.

Wendy stood up as well, "I'll come with you," she insisted, and followed Lucy out of the train compartment to the small bathroom at the rear of the car.

The cabin was silent for a bit, with nothing but the sounds of Natsu moaning periodically to break the doldrums. "She really is too nice to you," Gray finally interrupted, unable to stand the silence any longer.

While part of him had a small inclination of what the half-naked boy meant, Natsu, instead, settled for old habits.

"Shut it ice prick"

"Don't start something you can't finish" Gray retorted, a smug look on his face.

"And what would you two be starting?" Came Erza's low, and rather dangerous voice.

Gray went pale and sputtered out the first thing that came to his mind. "umm, Charades?"

"Bingo?" Natsu interjected simultaneously, his fear of Erza actually managing to overcome his motion sickness for all of three seconds.

"You would say an old woman's game" Gray muttered under his breath.

"Ugggh" was all Natsu could respond with. The cabin lapsed back into silence, Gray smirking as he contemplated more ways to make Natsu uncomfortable while on this trip, and Erza looking out over the scenery, her thoughts scattered somewhere across the expanse of Fiore. Just as Gray felt himself prepare to break the silence once more, the door to the cabin slid open and Lucy and Wendy made their return.

"Okay, Natsu, sit up just a bit. There you go," She murmured gently, lifting him from the window and laying him down in her lap. Wendy took her seat between the other two, and watched from under her bangs with a small smile as Lucy tenderly brushed away some hair that clung to Natsu's forehead. Replacing her fingers with the cool cloth, she smiled happily as Natsu let out a sigh of relief, his sickness finally abating to the point where he could fall asleep.

Lucy thought the silence was rather comfortable, as did Wendy and Erza. However, it only takes one person to think otherwise.

"Lucy, why are you so nice to that idiot?" Gray suddenly asked from his position opposite her, catching the blonde off guard.

Lucy flushed and sputtered a bit, before she sighed. Looking down at the boy on her lap, she gave a small smile. "To be honest? I don't know. He's an idiot, he's always destroying everything in sight, breaking into my apartment (but then, half of Fairy Tail does that anyway), but he's still my best friend. I can't just sit here while he's in pain, especially when I know how many times over I would not be sitting here if it wasn't for him. I suppose that I know how hard it is for me to help him in any where else, so I jump at any chances I have to do so."

Gray felt his smirk increase slightly. "Well, I don't disagree with you on many of those points, but are you sure all of it is just your sense of duty?"

Lucy frowned, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

The ice-mage finally managed to lose his cool, a feat in and of itself, "Oh please, it's plain as day that you li-"

"Enough. It's not our place." Erza suddenly interrupted, coming out of her ruminations to glare at him.

Wendy, who had been watching the conversation flow back and forth with curiosity, felt as though this was the opportune time to figure out what was going on, "What isn't our place?"

"Don't worry about it, Wendy." Erza said, before staring out the window once more.

Heaving a sigh and grumbling under her breath about how the grown-ups never told her anything, Wendy dropped the subject and set about amusing herself by tearing up little pieces of paper and twirling them about in a small tornado she had created.

Lucy, on the other hand, found herself deep in thought as she contemplated what Gray had been saying. If she was correct (and she often was, as she insisted to others), he was trying to say that she liked Natsu. As if she needed another one of their guild mates on her back about it. Lucy was hesitant to say any such thing. After all, the last time she allowed herself to contemplate such a scenario, the idiot had ended up wanting to use her for manual labor for the sake of some half-assed rumor he had heard. On the other hand, she had realized back on Tenrou Island (even if she hadn't fully admitted it to herself) that she probably felt more than what a normal person would classify as friendship. When she was sure they were about to die on that ship, she remembered how quickly her thoughts had turned to Natsu. Not necessarily to save him, but just to be near him. And then, later, when they faced down Acnologia, his was the first hand she grabbed, clinging to it as a symbol of the last fragments of hope she could muster.

As she slowly came to the realization that Gray (and Happy. and Mira. and Levy.) was mostly likely correct in this instance, she felt an icy-hot sensation trickle down her limbs. Lucy finally acknowledged that what she felt for Natsu was nothing like what she expected romantic feelings to be expressed as. She didn't feel all sappy, thought she did feel her stomach turn over nervously. There was no "burning desire to be near him at all times," nor did she experience any supreme jealousy at the thought of him being within five feet of another woman.

Instead, she felt a deep rush of contentment, much like she had felt that night after returning when they fell asleep under the stars. She felt a little lonely at the thought he might not reciprocate her feelings, but then, he did have a habit of sticking around her more than he did anyone else. Lucy suddenly felt the urge to collapse into laughter at the irony of it all. Here, she had been looking for "the one", expecting fate to swoop in with a series of coincidences that would act like a flashing neon sign to her destined lover, but, in reality, she found herself falling for Natsu. He wasn't romantic, he wasn't particularly book smart, he didn't have any sense of personal boundaries, nor any amount of self control, but he was loyal. He had an innate instinct for beating the good into people if he could, and taking out the bad guys when he had to. Natsu was the best friend she had ever had, and she knew that any future with him would entail a true partnership, much like they had now. Perhaps her life wouldn't be a great romance, but if she could find a way to discover Natsu's feelings (or help him discover them, if need be), Lucy realized that a great romance isn't what she wanted.

With a faint flush, but a contented smile, Lucy gently combed her fingers through Natsu's hair once more. It was still all so new, so she was determined to allow her emotions to settle for a little while, before she confronted them or Natsu once more. Until then, she would be happy doing what she did best, looking after him and doing all she could to keep him under some control.

Moving her hands from his hair, she blinked as she felt the train begin to slow and the conductor broadcast an announcement detailing their imminent arrival. With a small smirk, Lucy gently shook his shoulder, rousing him from slumber despite his groaning and grumbling.

"Wake up, idiot, we're here" she said fondly, already looking forward to their upcoming adventure.

* * *

**Woo-hoo! only 4 days late from when I promised! Welp, sorry for that at any rate. Maybe I should not make promised updates anymore, since I never seem to be able to make them x,x. REALLY SORRY THOUGH**

**Anywho, I am quite happy to see the new season of Fairy Tail. I've been waiting to see it animated ever since I read this arc in the manga. Of course, I'm also looking forward to when the anime reaches the point the manga is at (the demons) since I happen to think it's going to be really cool with the animation process. So, as a belated celebration, not only of the new episode last week, but also the new chapter, here's _my_ new chapter as well.**

**Also, tell me. What do you think of the ending credits for the new season? :D First time I saw it, I was like "dsakfjdskalfjdsa". I've never been much into shipping, to be honest, but ever since I got into Fairy Tail, I can't seem to do anything but (with this show, though. I still don't really ship in other shows that I watch). Maybe it's just how much they hint towards it, but have yet to come out and make it _official. _**

**A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to my Beta, Catwho! She also writes for the FT fandom (among others), and I happen to think her stories are quite lovely. Until next time, readers! And please feel free to leave your thoughts in the little box below!**

**Mix**


	8. Chapter 8

Thump, Thump, Thump. Her footfalls rang against the old cobbled streets, and it was taking all her willpower not to stumble and twist her ankle, thus leading her to lose her quarry. The noise was almost maddening, and the only means by which Lucy kept her sanity was by repeating the mantra "I will be paid this time" over and over under her breath.

This boss was a fast one, and as her breasts bounced violently up and down, she wished, not for the first time, that they were smaller. Smaller, and less painful when running.

Through the alleys and over debris, she ran. Far behind her, she could hear the yells of her teammates, calling desperately for her to wait for them. But Lucy had her prey in her sights, and wasn't about to let him worm away to whatever hole he might hide in.

Imagine her excitement when she followed him into a dead end and realized he was trapped. Finally, she could get her money, put some of it aside for her rent and, most importantly, treat herself to a shopping trip to replace the wardrobe that the years had eaten away.

Thus, her fury and frustration were momentus when, upon analyzing his situation, the thug's leader revealed his magic power and, quite literally, slipped through a crack. Lucy tried desperately to follow him but, alas, the aforementioned body-curse played the largest role in preventing her from squeezing through the gap as well.

"No fairrr!" she whined as one arm reached desperately through the crack. Looking forward, her last glimpse of her quarry was a small, self-satisfied smirk in her direction before he ran off, disappearing into the streets and hidey-holes of the city. Knowing it was his home turf, Lucy pulled herself free and sank dejectedly to the ground. After all, there was no way they would be able to find him when he knew the ins and outs across the territory.

Finally, Lucy heaved a sigh and pulled herself to her feet. Turning, she made her way back down the alley and into the main street. It was only after an hour of walking that the Spirit Mage realized she had a small problem. In the maze-like jumble of boxes, barrels, and winding walls, it seemed Lucy had taken a wrong turn or two and was now situated in what seemed to be a rather seedy part of town. Glowering, and silently thanking her luck that it was still daylight, she turned and tried to find a ladder or staircase that could lead her to a rooftop. Hopefully a higher vantage point would allow her to spot the swath of destruction she was sure her companions would be in the middle of.

Stretching a little, Lucy felt the vertebrae in her back pop and sighed in relief. She was looking forward to being home and sleeping in her own bed. To be honest, at this point she was looking forward to simply sleeping.

Lucy was exhausted. Due to the relative rarity of Celestial Mages, many people-even the mages in question-didn't fully understand how their power worked, only that they always seemed weaker and more prone to exhaustion than other wizards. Strangers who came into contact with Lucy often marveled at the apparent difference in skill level between her and her companions, and wondered how she could possibly feel tired after bringing forth a few spirits, but they never understood that the strength of a Celestial Mage isn't drawn forth in a single direction. Rather, any time a mage opens a gate, there are multiple strains being put on his or her power reserves, leading to a faster depletion.

To the casual observer, it would seem as though Lucy's abilities would be opening or closing the gates of her spirits, and then strategically organizing the spirits in order to best utilize their strengths. While this is partially true, most never seem to realize that the spirits have very little power on their own. To be clear, Celestial Spirits are significantly dissimilar to mages. Instead of being the source of their own attacks, they act as channels, drawing on the power of their contract-holder and then morphing that power into what is seen on the battlefield. The larger a spirit's capability to channel energy, the more initial input of magic it takes to open or close their gate. This is the primary reason Lucy made such an effort to befriend her spirits. As was taught to her by her mother, by opening her heart to them, she opens the furthest recesses of her power and allows them to reach their maximum strength potential.

Despite her knowledge on the subject, Lucy could never help but grow frustrated with every time she felt her body tire before her teammates'. She could remind herself of the reasons she always tired faster, but it was one thing to know in her head, and another to know in her heart.

Lucy continued to walk until dusk was about to fall, her worry increasing exponentially as the sun inched towards the horizon. 'Why didn't I pace myself better?' she moaned to herself, wishing she still had enough power to summon one of her spirits, and all her attempts to reach high ground had been in vain. It seemed as though, what with the size of the thief problem the city possessed, any and all means to reach the rooftops had been removed. She had already tried to knock on people's doors, but it seemed as though the fighting from earlier had chased the populace indoors, and they were now unwilling to open their homes to a strange woman.

Lucy was just about to start shouting for her friends when she heard a noise behind her. Startled, she turned on her heel to look for the source. Unfortunately she couldn't see the arm snake towards her from the alley, clamp its dirty, muck covered hand around her mouth, and pull her into the shadows.

* * *

Natsu looked around curiously. It had been at least two hours since he had been pulled from the boat, and he had just realized that he hadn't seen (or rather, heard) Lucy in all that time.

"Hey, Ice prick, where'd Luce go?" he called over to the man sitting on a wall.

"Last I saw, she took off after that Geese guy. We lost track of her in the alleys and haven't seen her since. And don't call me ice prick, flame for brains. She can take care of herself, but if you're really that worried about your girlfriend, go look for her yourself" he snapped.

Natsu growled a little and shoved Gray's shoulder, "She's not my girlfriend, but tell me, is the only reason you can't get a girl because your dick shrunk with the cold?" he asked, his glower settling to a smug look as he finally had an opportunity to use the insult he'd been thinking of for a while.

To Natsu's immense satisfaction, Gray sputtered a bit before standing up to go head to head with the dragon-slayer. "I can get a girl, I just don't want to right now. You know, since you just said you weren't in a relationship with her, maybe I'll try for Lucy. After all, she'd probably appreciate a guy who didn't burn his prick off the last time he masturbated."

"Okay, Ice princess," Natsu shouted, "you wanna fight?"

"Bring it hot head!"

"You will not start anything." a voice stated behind him as a hand caught hold of the fist flying towards Gray's unguarded face. Feeling a shiver run down his spine, Natsu slowly turned his head and came face to face with his own personal demon, the great Titania.

"Y-yes sir! I mean Ma'am!" he squeaked as she released her hold on him.

"Very good. Now then, I'd say let's go check up on Lucy. She should have at least sent one of her spirits by now."

Suitably distracted, Natsu grinned and gave a mock salute. Without a word, he jumped on some stacked boxes and caught hold of the roof of a nearby building, pulling himself up much as he did whenever he broke into Lucy's apartment. Lifting his nose to the breeze that filtered through the city, he wrinkled his nose at the scents of dirt, trash, and other unmentionable objects that could only be found in a place where people lived like sardines.

It was difficult to pick out Lucy's scent; the rankness of the streets was almost overpowering his nostrils but then, there it was. The faintest whiff of it intermixed with the stench. Wrinkling his nose a little, Natsu began to run along the rooftops, following the smell that wafted through the buildings. It was fairly normal for the most part, but then, as her smell grew slightly stronger, he came across a more sour scent that intermingled with it.

"That can't be good," he muttered to himself before taking off, leaving his companions behind. Over the slate-covered homes he flew, looking for the idiot who decided tracking Lucy was a good idea.

* * *

Lucy felt the rush of air leave her lungs as she was thrown against the wall of the alley, effectively winding her. Gasping as she tried to breathe, her vision swam and her knees gave out from under her. The only thing keeping her upright at this point was the rank smelling, dirt covered person before her.

"Ugh" she groaned as she blinked rapidly, her vision focusing too slow for comfort. The sight that awaited her, however, made her wish she had just had the sense to pass out. Bald head, ratty beard, and alcohol-swollen belly met her gaze. His teeth were yellowed and his breath was sickly sweet with the scent of cigar and pipe tobacco, instantly making her stomach roll.

"'Eello there, little miss," he said, his grin spreading to reveal some missing teeth, "you led my boss on a bit of a run today, good for you, keepin' up with him like that. However, havin' that moron get picked up by some wizards wouldn't exactly work out with my plans at the moment so, not-so-good for you, I'm here to leave a message'. So, what'll it be? Since I'm a nice guy, I'll give ye a choice. A) I kill you slow-like, or B) I rape you, then kill you quick."

Lucy could only blink in response, her mind lethargic from the exhaustion of the day and the shock that was working to keep her panic at bay. "W-what?" she finally managed to intelligently stutter.

"Be quick about it, girl, before I decide for you."

Finally, Lucy's thoughts caught up with her and fury filled her gaze. "No way, you pervert, get away from me!" she exclaimed, her voice rising with each word before he cut her off with a hand around her throat.

Suddenly unable to move air past her vocal chords, let alone into her lungs, Lucy stared at him with fear-filled eyes in an ever-reddening face. Reaching up, she began to claw at his hand and kick at his shins, but her movements were curtailed when he stepped closer to her, effectively pinning her legs to the wall. Twisting his torso to the side, he was able to pin one of her arms between their chests, and grab the other with his free hand.

"Time's up. My choice, then" he said, leering at her. Lucy saw the edges of her vision began to darken as her lungs cramped, begging for air. The last thing she experienced as her world disappeared was a flash of light and a distant curse.

* * *

**Alrighty then, here's the rough form of Chapter 8! I'll update it as soon as my beta gets a chance to work her magic. Sorry it's a bit late, I flew out to Denver this last weekend to surprise my sister for her baby shower. She insists on the baby being born on June 3rd, but (since both she and my mother were born on June 4th) just about everyone is kinda hoping for a three-peat! Sorry, I'm just a bit excited for my first nephew! I've already warned her that I'm going to spoil that child and be the whacky aunt for any nieces and nephews I might have in the future, especially as I'm fairly sure I don't want any kids of my own. **

**Welp, I'll get chapter 9 written as soon as possible. I've got finals coming up, though, so a fair warning that my business is going to increase exponentially.**

**A big thank you to my reviewers! **

**miharu15: I'm very glad I'm not the only one who thinks so, especially as I plan to turn this story into a bit of a series and eventually go over the current arc :P Also, I thank you for your compliments! It really means a lot!**

**Shadowwitch042190: Thank you very much! I hope I continue to live up to your expectations!**

**Until next time, readers!**

**Mix**


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